Artifact Report

Chapter 358 Fu Tai Lan: The Time Puzzle

On the afternoon of November 26, 2026, as Brianna was about to walk out of the café carrying a paper bag containing the Pathfinder image, Fu Tailan called out from the table, "Green!"

Brianna and several other guests turned around.

"I forgot to ask, how is the manor?" Fu Tailan stood up and slowly walked across the coffee tables.

"What do you mean?"

“I’m very curious.” Fu Tailan lowered her voice, both hinting at and suggesting the conspiracy between the two. “…There was a lot of chaos left at the manor that day, and I haven’t seen it in the news since.”

To avoid angering Brianna, he was even careful when holding his breath, afraid that she would notice he was about to vomit from the smell of Green—if he really started gagging, he would completely offend Brianna.

Brianna snorted.

"Who do you think this is thanks to? I've cleaned up the mess, the estate is completely closed, and the news media can't get in."

...So that means nobody's here?

Fu Tailan went along with it, praising her several times with phrases like "Sister is really good at handling things" and "Sister is meticulous," which clearly made Brianna feel awkward, wary, and secretly pleased. In the end, all these emotions mixed together and turned into impatience. Brianna finally whispered and said, "I'm leaving. Go back and sit down. Don't even think about following me!"

Brianna doesn't need to worry about that.

What she needs to do next is simply engage in internal strife within the Wei family; the time for her to contend with Fu Tailan has not yet come, so there's no need to rush.

His target is Chai Si.

Chai Si currently holds too many advantages, and it won't do if no one takes a hit at him. Fu Tailan feels that he is acting on behalf of Heaven.

Besides, the "Nest Domination Game" seems to really hate Chai Si. If we can squeeze the target illusion out of Chai Si, or even kill him, maybe the Nest will be happy and we can be invited back to be a player?

Once Fu Tailan becomes a contestant again, it will temporarily appease Carter Morgan, preventing him from becoming impatient and turning against Fu Han.

Fu Tailan thought about it.

It's strange, he doesn't even know what's wrong with him.

If Fu Han were to be hit by a car while walking down the street one day, Fu Tai Lan might shed a few tears and breathe a sigh of relief; from then on, she would be free to go wherever she wanted and do whatever she wanted, and perhaps she would never think of him again for the rest of her life.

But the thought of Fu Han enduring all sorts of harm and humiliation, bearing slander and charges, being imprisoned, and being tortured day after day... made him feel as if a million ants had sprung up in his stomach. In addition to being anxious and uneasy, he also felt a faint, biting pain.

His father had a tiny bit of love for him; and he loved his father too.

He only had one way to numb the last remnants of what is human.

Fu Tailan lowered her head, lit a cigarette in her hand, and took a deep drag.

“You can’t smoke this in my car,” the driver turned around and protested, “It’ll leave a smell…”

"I'll give you an extra two hundred dollars."

The driver stopped talking.

Fu Tailan opened the car window, looked at the highway rushing past outside, and exhaled a puff of white smoke.

His tolerance was highly trained; most people only needed two or three puffs, but he almost finished the whole thing. When the car finally stopped on the small road outside the Wei family manor, Fu Tailan opened the car door, stubbed out the cigarette, and glanced at the iron gate at the intersection not far away in a daze of white smoke.

He would walk the same path he had taken that night; but this time, he would not have to break through the impenetrable wall set up by Vesilé.

Of course, there were still security guards to look after the manor, but neither the security measures nor the guards' professional skills could compare to the night of Vesilé's death—Fu Tailan only had to walk a long way and was a little tired, and he didn't see a single patrolling guard along the way.

Perhaps it's just psychological?

Only ten days had passed, and although the exterior of the manor buildings had not changed at all, he still had the illusion that the manor was deserted and abandoned.

Fu Tailan stood under the tree he had almost crashed into with his car ten days ago, and sure enough, he saw that huge mass of thick darkness between heaven and earth once again.

It replaced the side building, frozen in place, like a blob of ink held still by a glass plate.

Ten days have passed, and the thick ink still shows no sign of dissipating.

When Fu Tailan last saw it, he was busy fleeing the crime scene and didn't get a good look at it; so he couldn't say for sure if it was the same size as it is now.

Has it grown bigger? No, right? What exactly is this thing?
In the midst of Brianna's chaotic handling of the aftermath and the sealing of the manor, and since it was generally invisible to the public, it's certain that someone went inside—but he inquired with the local police station and found that there had been no missing persons cases recently; it's likely that those people were like fallen leaves blown in by the wind, passing through the black fog and returning to the solid ground of the human world.

Those who cannot see it can walk in and walk out the same way.

So, who can see it?
Fu Tailan couldn't let Brianna go in and try, so he only had one option left.

"……Hello?"

He stood before the pitch-black hole, looked up, and shouted—feeling like a fool even to himself. "Is anyone in there?"

Of course, no one would answer him.

Fu Tailan stood there for a while, then looked back at the desolate and silent manor. He then looked at the black hole in front of him.

In this vast world, no one would try to dissuade him, saying it was too dangerous. So this is what it's like to feel uneasy... He thought he had long since become numb to fear.

“It’s all Chai Si’s fault,” he sighed, wiping his face vigorously.

***
On the night of November 23, 2026, no one knew that there were still two Fu Tai Lan in Blackmore City.

Fu Tai Lan, who had just been injured in a fight with Chai Si in the apartment, was sent to the hospital and was still unconscious.

The future of being removed from the list, insulted, and threatened has not yet arrived; it is still quietly waiting for him to open his eyes.

Another woman, Fu Tailan, who had already experienced everything, was wearing a hat and a mask and sitting on a bench on the street at around 10 p.m. on the 23rd.

Just a few dozen meters away from him was the "Between the Lights" bar, partially hidden underground next to the sidewalk.

Occasionally, a few ordinary people would hesitate for a moment on the stairs outside the bar, looking down as if considering whether to try the little bar, have a drink, and then leave.

But whether it was due to the lingering animal instincts of humans or some other means employed by the bar owner, unless one was a hunter, even if they really wanted a drink, they would never truly make up their mind to go down the stairs and push open the bar door—as if that section of stairs was a natural filter, filtering out ordinary people and leaving only hunters.

Fu Tailan withdrew her gaze from the direction of the bar, pretending to be playing with her phone, her fingers tapping the screen repeatedly, her eyes shining brightly with light.

I haven't had time to get a haircut lately, so my hair has grown long and is soft and messy, hanging down in the nape of my neck, even covering my headphones. It's itchy.

“I found out. Megan was also on the scene during last night’s street fighting,” the male hunter said in a low voice through the earpiece. “What else do you want me to find out? You’re the boss, you make the decisions.”

Fu Tailan adjusted her headphones. "Go find that waitress named Megan and have her explain the urban warfare process to you as well. Don't hesitate to ask for money if there's anything that requires payment."

In fact, after buying the channel fake image and acquiring the mouth doll and "blank driver's license" under a false name, Fu Tai Lan's account didn't have much money left.

He had been surprised that, despite not spending much money, the money he had earned over the years seemed to melt away as quickly as summer snow—but upon thinking of Fu Han, he let out a long "Oh," and understood.

“Okay,” the male hunter on the other end of the headset rustled up, and after a minute or two, suddenly called out, “Megan? I’d like to order a drink. Yeah, yeah, it’s been so long…”

The gunfight in the back alley of the "Between the Light" bar in the early hours of November 22nd could not be kept secret from the hunters; not only did they know who was involved, but they also found out exactly what kind of hospital gown Chai Si wore that day—even though he didn't want to know at all.

"...Yes. Hmm? What's wrong with not saying this? He didn't tell me to keep it a secret."

Megan's voice was a few steps away and sounded a little muffled, but Fu Tailan could still make out the outlines of the words. "He did indeed call that woman with the Noh mask 'Han Liuyue'."

Noh noodles? Han Liuyue?

That's interesting.

He knew Han Liuyue; she had a bright and clear appearance, and some people in the hunter circle secretly called her "Crystal Lamp"—because she was as dazzling when she smiled as she was dark when she struck, just like the shadow under a crystal lamp.

Her appearance has absolutely nothing to do with the description of "snow-white dough".

Where and how was she caught?
I heard that the two of them went back to the Kai family mansion; but as soon as they entered the mansion, it was as if they had entered a black hole, and there was no sound at all.

On the contrary, the core hunters of the Kai family were like a swarm of flies buzzing around dog poop, unwilling to leave the mansion for even a moment, guarding them closely; no matter when, there were always at least four or five people patrolling inside and outside the mansion, checking the entrances and exits... even meals were ordered directly from takeout.

Something must have happened to Chai Si and Han Liuyue...

***
Over the next two days, Fu Tailan delivered takeout to the Kai family mansion four times.

In fact, the private driveway outside the Kai family mansion provided him with great convenience—as long as he stood at the end of the driveway, he could avoid the mansion's gaze and stop delivery cars in time.

After opening the car window, he would first observe the driver; only if the other person looked like a student working part-time, easy to talk to, or someone who seemed bored and indifferent would he make a request.

“Those pizzas were ordered by my friend,” Fu Tailan pointed in the direction of the Kai family mansion, then gently patted the roof of the car, like an enthusiastic young man: “I’m planning to tease them and deliver them myself. You can just give me the stuff.”

Of course, some people are cautious and reluctant; but after the rich young master character played by Fu Tai Lan pulls out two hundred dollars, that little bit of resistance usually disappears.

He had already figured out the best approach – if he gave too much, the other party would become suspicious; if he gave too little, the other party wouldn't take the bait; two hundred was just right.

"Hey, could you please take a look at this?"

After he received the takeout, Fu Tailan would openly show the driver the blank driver's license plate. "Is there a watermark on this? I've been looking at it for ages and can't see it. Could you take a look for me?"

When the words gradually appear on the blank driver's license, Fu Tailan will turn around and leave without saying a word. When he looks back, the driver whose identity has been temporarily taken away will always be sitting in the same place, staring blankly, unable to remember who he is now.

The Kai family hunters would always open the gate for him.

Fu Tailan would often find an excuse to strike up a conversation with them; he even learned from snippets of conversation that the Kai family was considering recruiting.

He forgot which of his delivery deliveries he had stumbled upon that particular word.

"Black hole".

***
On the afternoon of November 26, Fu Tailan stood in the Wei family manor, in front of what used to be a side building, a large, fog-like black hole, and sighed softly in the silence between heaven and earth.

There's nothing to say, and no one to explain to.

He lifted his foot and stepped into the darkness.

(End of this chapter)